Your region and favorite apple

[browniebaker]

for cooking and baking: Rome Beauty

for eating out of hand: Gala (I like the hard crunch and sweetness of it.)

Would like to try the Northern Spry for baking pies, but have not come across it in the D.C. area where I live. Perhaps I need to drive out somewhere.

Have you checked at Eastern Market? The farmers there often have interesting varieties, and if they don't have what you want on hand, they might be able to procure it for you.

Sigh. I miss that market. Used to live 3 blocks away.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it. This could be the year I finally try the famed Northern Spy.

[excelsior]

Western NY

Ginger Gold - cut it, and let it set on the counter and it will not discolor... superior to Cortland in this regard (and I love Cortlands)...

Sansa absolutely the best eating apple... try these babies if you can find them...

Honeycrisp the most amazingly crisp & juicy apple ever... the juice will actually dribble out of your mouth... leave it on the shelf for two weeks and it will be just as crisp... a very amazing apple... good luck finding these bad boys... (for you Macoun lovers, Macoun was one of the parents)... If you know where they hail from, the flavor is better in colder growing areas (sorry but Washington is too warm a climate)...

Fortune - Supurb baking apple... one of the parents was Northern Spy (I think); Crispin is also good for baking (and eating)...

Cameo - all the good characteristics of a Rome only this apple actually taste good... draw back... it isn't "pretty," you need to eat this one with your mouth and not your eyes...

Red Delicious... good for looking at... could be substituted if a recipe call for cardboard ...

I've found some people who like the older varieties remember eating them in a more innocent period in their life and that may be part (emphasis on "part" so please don't get hostile towards me) of the reason for their preference.

[Varmint]

North Carolina -- Pink Lady

[tryska]

Originally From Central New York ....

empires

macouns

crispins

and red delicious.

oh and granny smiths too.

[bloviatrix]

I have a new favorite - Rhode Island Greenling. I'm liking them better than the macoun.

Super tart. With a great crunch.

[cheeseandchocolate]

I miss the apples I ate in France...

Boskoop (and I see I'm not alone in this!)

Reine des Reinettes (although they could tend to a bit mushy sometimes in shops)

Back in the Seattle, I do like a good Pink Lady or the local Ginger Golds. I also picked up some delicious apples at an orchard stand outside of Boston--Russets. They reminded me of the "Canada" apples I used to buy in France when I couldn't get the aforementioned two.

[birder53]

New Jersey - ginger golds and galas rule! I think I once had a jonathan - not a jonamac or jonagold- but have never seen them again. The ginger golds seem to be nearing the end of their season, they just aren't as crisp at they were in September. Galas are my favorite eating apples year 'round.

[badthings]

N. California.

I've been comparing varieties a lot more methodically this year, and I've found that the same varieties from the same markets vary greatly from week to week -- had some delicious pippins last week, mushy and flavorless this week. The moral being, if you get a bad batch, it is worth giving them another shot.

The best and most consistent so far has been Sierra Beauty.

I have also had excellent Splendour and Rome Beauty. One rarity locals might want to check out is the Rose of Mendocino (don't know what it really is, but that's what they called them at the farmers market).

Supposedly Honeycrisp is the offpring of Macoun and Jonagold.

[rickster]

Had some terrific Newtown Pippins last week here in CT. Bought a lot to try in pies.

[Brad S]

Being a life long New Englander I would have to lean towards Macouns,they fit your hand perfectly,thin skin,crisp,and the perfect balance of sweet and tart.

Empires ain't bad either.

[badthings]

Just found Cox's Orange Pippins at the farmer's market. Astonishing, almost artificial apple flavor taste. Candy-like. Good crispness, but on the verge of being too mealy. This is the quality that seems most variable, though -- I'll see what they're like next week.

[helenjp]

I found some Belle de Boskoop in a supermarket in Brussels...we ate them raw, and although there was a slight bitterness to some of them, they had a great texture (although firm, they weren't hard/crisp, but had a very pleasant mouthfeel), were aromatic, and had plenty of flavor as well as sweetness to balance the considerable acidity.

These were nothing more than average examples, and probably intended for cooking, judging from the mixed appearance of our half-dozen, so well-grown fruit should be very good indeed.

[Jaymes]

Down here in Texas, we find that Pink Lady is readily available and pretty consistently good. It's what we look for.

[Betts]

Minnesota - Honeycrisp for eating and baking

SweeTango - new variety from the U of MN horticultural research stn - EXPLODES with a sweet, tart, crisp juice dibbling succulence. The few grocery stores that had them had to ration the supply. These are going to be a force to reckon with in a few years

McIntosh - the best flavor as long as sauce is what you want

[merstar]

NC - Pink Lady.

[David A. Goldfarb]

New York City. Ida Red for eating, and lately Northern Spy for baking.

[Pyewacket]

Since moving to NY from NC we've had lots of fun going to nearby orchards and picking many varieties of apples. Love the Mutsus, Macouns and Honey Crisps.

However, there are two varieties I used to be able to obtain pretty readily in NC that I NEVER see in NY

How come I can never get Yorks or Arkansas Blacks?

I love the Yorks for their funky, jazzy shape and sweet-tart flavor and crisp texture.

The Arkansas Blacks had a deep purple skin with pinkish, lavender streaks running through the white flesh and were crisp, incredibly juicy with that sweet-tart flavor I love.

Many great apples in NY, but really miss these two.

[ncorrigbl]

NY, Honeycrisp when available. The season is short, but during it I eat about three per day!

[John Rosevear]

Massachusetts. A good Empire is a glorious thing, an exquisite balance of sweet and tart, and possibly the finest idea ever to come out of Cornell University. Sadly, many are mealy-textured and not particularly flavorful, and if that's all that's available, I'll happily take a McIntosh (ideally from the orchard down the street) instead.

[Ashen]

southern Ontario Canada..

My favourite are russets. Hoping the new crop will be good. some years they are just too mealy or woody to enjoy.

followed closely by good ambrosia and honeycrips. I say good because they seem to vary wildly in quality. Neither seems to store very well either. I will only buy these two in season and after trying a sample at the farmers market stand.

This past week at the market the best tasting apples were the new Galas.

[Country]

Maine -

Macouns and Cortlands. Every fall I get a couple of pecks of Macouns and three of Cortlands from Biscay Orchards in Damariscotta. Sometimes a peck of Honey Crisp, which I don't like as well but they're the best keepers. The Macouns and Cortlands will keep into late April and the Honey Crisp would probably last until late May if there were any left.

[RobertM]

Virginia - I love the Ida Red apples just coming into market - wonderful to eat alone, great for caramel apples and cooking -

[Panaderia Canadiense]

Ecuador

Dorado de Tisaleo

[janeer]

New England. It depends. For pies: Gravenstein or RI Greening if you can find, Cortland, Northern Spy, or Macoun if you can't. Applesauce: Macintosh. Baking: Rome Beauty.

[ruthcooks]

For me, nothing can beat the old-fashioned Jonathan, which I grew up eating in Illinois. It bakes, makes pies, and tastes delicious raw.

I also use Granny Whites (pies) and MacIntosh (sauce and relishes) for cooking, and will occasionally eat a Fuji or Gala or try newer versions.

I am not too fond of apples, but my mother loved them and often complained that the skins were all too tough to eat anymore. One year I sent her two of each kind I could find (when the fall apples were in) so she could find the one which would suit.